My observations: thickens can get the grasshoppers only while the hoppers are a mid to small size and only in low or no vegetation. Even then, of there are more than just a few jumping, the girls don’t seem to be able to track, chase, and catch them.
When the hoppers are too small, the girls either don’t notice them, ignore them, or don’t see them.
When larger, they jump too far out fly away.
In thick vegetation, the hopers hide too well. In talk vegetation, the girls can’t reach them.
So, chickens are not a very good solution most of the time.
I used row covers on the plants that are most favored, a green trap about 20’ away from the garden, and I go out to collect them at night by hand (to feed to my ladies in the morning). Last, I removing my winter mulch from the garden beds a couple weeks early, then shallow till (with a garden rake) to expose the hoppers’ eggs and let the exposure kill them before planting out the garden.
The combination has been working for the last 3 years (but it’s constant, not ideal, and just enough to maintain balance).
Hand capturing:
The hoppers seem to climb up on nearby plants every night to a height between 1-7’ with a preference of 4’. This makes them ideal height to pick (like picking berries off a bush). I use a headlamp and a small bottle to store them in. If there are many (like in mid summer), I target the biggest and the ones that are mating and focus on my garden and fruit trees (most bang for the buck). They are easy to catch. Often I can get 4-5 in a single handful (they congregate in the best perch spots). In my acre, I can readily collect a pint bottle full every night on bad years (where there are many and they are large). Having done this for 3 years, I now get about 1/3 of a bottle full twice a week.
I quickly learned where in the yard they congregate, and which plants they favor most-least. Here, they emerge a couple weeks after the spring rains stop. They start off timely (except the occasional ones that survived through winter), and get bigger throughout the season. As the grow they eat more and more doing most damage the larger they are. They also seem to be able to eat more durable plants as they get older. Very little is safe from them.
They mainly strip the leaves (avoid the fruits, roots) but will leave gnaw marks on cambrien and fruit skins.
Here in Norther Colorado their preference list goes something like this (based on my yard):
They start with: comfrey, potato, raspberry, blackberry, rhubarb, young lettuce, peas, chamomile, blueberry, buffalo berry, sage, mulberry, sun chokes, cabbage, clematis, clover, and most garden flowers.
By mid-season, or once the above is gone: Mint, beats, kohlrabi, okra, turnip, corn, cherry, carrot, onion, cucumber, muskmelon/cantaloupe, currant, sunflower, string bean, oregano, willow, aspen, snowberry, serviceberry, eggplant, basil, and catnip.
Once grown/end of summer: grape, peppers, borage, maple, hibiscus, and peach.
What they seem to leave alone: strawberry, apple, spinach, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, asparagus, watermelon, favabeans, thyme, plumb, linden, evergreens of any kind, naking cherry and privet.
